August Series F&O Setup: FII long exposure at January 2026 lows; Check key levels, triggers

The August F&O series begins from Wednesday, July 29, and the FII "long exposure" in index futures is down to the lowest level since the start of the year, which is January 2026.

The Nifty 50 ended the July series on a sluggish note but despite the volatile moves seen over the last few sessions, the index closed the series with gains of 120 points. Therefore, after a 130-point drop across May and June, the Nifty's returns over the last three months have technically been zero.

F&O Series	Returns (Points)
July 2026	120
June 2026	-48
May 2026	-82
April 2026	1,664
March 2026	-3093

Historically, the August series has shown no decisive trend over the last few years, although the moves have been on the larger end in either direction.

August	Returns (Points)	Returns (%)
2022	593	3.5
2023	-406	-2.1
2024	746	3.1
2025	-267	-1.1

At the end of the July series, or the start of the August series, the Nifty 50 rollovers were at 71.8%, which turned out to be lower than the three-month average of 74%.

Series	Rollovers (%)
August	71.8
July	80
June	70
May	71.4
April	77.7

Open interest for the Nifty 50 contracts at the start of the series declined in comparison to the month of July, and is also at the levels last seen in March this year.

Month	Nifty Open Interest
August	1.36 Crore
July	1.79 Crore
June	1.45 Crore
May	1.45 Crore
April	2.09 Crore
March	1.34 Crore

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continue to trim their long exposure in index futures. That figure is back in single digits to the lowest level since January 2026.

Month	FII Longs In Futures
August	9%
July	10%
June	17%
May	13%
April	15%
March	14%
February	12%
January	9%

FII net short exposure at the start of the August series stood at 2.05 lakh contracts, while client long exposure stood at 79%.

What Are the Key Market Triggers For the August Series?

The developments in West Asia continue to take prominence among the key triggers as they have a direct bearing on oil prices, which have an impact on the market as well.

What has also grabbed attention now is the unwinding of the global AI trade and if that continues, whether IT continues to outperform will be something that will be monitored through the series.

While the US Federal Reserve announces its policy decisions tonight, the Reserve Bank of India will present its own monetary policy decision on August 5.

Earnings season will come to an end during the August series and along with that, developments surrounding the monsoon will also be monitored.